Page 20 of The Hang Up
Before she could point out the silliness of him telling her to watch when they’d just established they were in total darkness, he opened his mouth wide, then cracked the wintergreen Life Saver between his teeth.
“Oh!”
Miriam’s gasp told him the stunt had worked, but he chomped the candy a few more times, just to make sure.
“See the sparks?” he asked, swallowing the tiny bits of Life Saver as he reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out two more cellophane-wrapped candies.
“Oh my God, what was that?”
“Triboluminescence,” he said, grinning in the darkness at the delight in her voice.
“Say what?”
“Triboluminescence,” he repeated. “It’s what happens when the molecules of crystalline sugar are forced out of their atomic fields. The free electrons collide with nitrogen molecules in the air, which causes them to vibrate.”
“I can’t tell if you’re talking dirty or talking geeky, but either way, I like the way it sounds.”
He laughed and pressed one of the Life Savers into her hand. “Here. Unwrap it carefully and stick the wrapper in your pocket so we don’t leave litter behind. Got it?”
“Yes.” He heard the crinkling of the wrapper and the sound of her popping the candy into her mouth. “It’s wintergreen.”
“Yes. Methyl salicylate or oil of wintergreen is fluorescent,” he said.“It absorbs light of a shorter wavelength and emits it as light of a longer wavelength, so it produces light on the visible spectrum.”
“The sparks looked blue when you did it.”
“Yes. Blue light. That’s part of the visible spectrum. Go ahead, try it.”
He heard the crunch of the candy between her teeth, and he watched the crackle of blue sparks in the darkness.
“Did I do it?” she asked, her voice oddly giddy. “I can’t see if I’m doing it right.”
“You’re doing it right.” He popped a second piece of candy into his mouth. “Here’s another one.”
He slid another Life Saver into her warm palm as he bit down on his own candy, rewarded by the sound of her giggling in the darkness. “Wow! That’s so cool!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Glad and surprised. He’d expected her to be polite, maybe even mildly amused, but the excitement in her voice was something altogether different. He’d led tours with bored city kids before who’d dismissed this little blue spark phenomenon as “like,solame.”
But Miriam’s enthusiasm made him want to stand here cracking Life Savers between his molars all day long.
Something clicked in the darkness, and he wondered what she was fiddling with. He could have sworn he smelled something perfumy, like his sister’s makeup drawer, but maybe that was just Miriam’s hair.
He heard the crack of a Life Saver, followed by a soft squeal. “It worked!” She crunched again. “I see it in the mirror. I see sparks in my mouth!”
“You have a mirror? On a cave tour?”
“Of course. I always have a compact in my pocket.” Jason snorted.“I carry a pocketknife, you carry a mirror.”
“You’re just jealous you can’t see your own sparks.”
“You’re kind of right,” he said, nudging closer to her.
“I’ve been doing this on cave tours for ten years and I never thought to bring a mirror. Let me see.”
He moved closer, shoulder to shoulder with her now. He couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but he leaned close so his cheek brushed hers. He reached out in front of him and caught hold of the hand that held the compact.
“It’s right here in front of us,” she said, steadying the mirror—and his hand—about five inches from their faces. He heard her crunch down on a Life Saver, and she laughed again as blue sparks flashed in the small mirror.
